"Imprison!"
But this time, Gallade didn't move a muscle. He stood rooted to the ground.
His eyes glowed with a mysterious blue light as he pierced through the opponent's Psychic, unraveling it completely. A strange violet aura shimmered around his body, and a glowing arcane sealing symbol suddenly appeared atop Metagross.
Imprison—if the opponent knows any moves that the user also knows, those moves become unusable by the opponent.
The moment the move activated, Metagross immediately discovered that it could no longer use several of its moves, including Psychic and Agility.
"Sacred Sword!"
In the same instant, Gallade used Teleport flashing underneath Metagross. His dual arm blades transformed into gleaming Sacred Swords and slashed upward with force.
Sacred Sword—a move that cuts through stat changes, striking regardless of the opponent's defense boosts.
The attack connected cleanly. Despite Metagross' previously heightened defenses, the Sacred Sword bypassed them entirely. Its effectiveness was comparable to that of Night Slash when it lands a critical hit.
With the blow landed, Metagross collapsed to the ground—unable to rise.
"Return."
Paul withdrew Metagross back into its Poké Ball, stepping aside from the battlefield.
This match had made something very clear to him—
Metagross' move pool was too shallow and predictable. Against opponents with specialized counters, it was left completely vulnerable.
He would have to expand its set of moves soon—add a few versatile or unexpected options—just in case.
"A Teleport-based Gallade, huh? That's going to be a pain to deal with. You're up, Greninja."
Calem nodded at Greninja as he sent him onto the field.
"Kroah~!"
Greninja's body briefly flickered with a veil of smoke—then vanished from sight. In the blink of an eye, it somehow reappeared directly across from Gallade.
The battle had barely begun when Gallade used Teleport, instantly moving behind Greninja, both arms transformed into glowing Sacred Sword blades as it struck.
But the next moment revealed the truth—Gallade had only slashed through one of Greninja's dozens of Double Team clones.
Seeing this, Gallade responded in kind, activating its own Double Team and charging forward. All the illusory copies collided and dispersed, leaving only the real Pokémon standing face to face.
Before Gallade could launch its next attack, Greninja suddenly raised its middle finger with a defiant—"Kroah!"
Provoked, Gallade found itself unable to use Teleport, now forced into direct combat with Greninja.
What Wally hadn't expected was that the same fate that had befallen Metagross earlier would now catch up with Gallade.
Greninja wasn't quite as strong as Gallade in raw power—but it certainly had no shortage of tricks.
It spat out a cloud of smoke to block both combatants' line of sight. Just as Gallade used its psychic powers to disperse the smoke, a stretched shadow lashed out from the ground and struck it—a sneak attack with Shadow Sneak. At the same time, an Icy Wind hit Gallade, reducing its speed.
Then Greninja activated Role Play, copying Gallade's Sharpness ability for itself. Another smokescreen followed.
This time, Gallade was ready—launching multiple Psycho Cut waves to slice through the mist, then slashing toward Greninja. But Greninja's figure had already vanished—no sign of it on the ground.
Gallade glanced around the battlefield, even looked up toward the sky—but saw nothing.
Suddenly, the ground cracked open as Greninja burst forth, striking Gallade squarely with a swift and precise Aerial Ace.
"Gaaall~!"
Gallade was knocked backward but quickly countered with Detect, narrowly dodging Greninja's follow-up.
Realizing its assault had failed, Greninja didn't press further. Instead, it opened its mouth and released another cloud of smoke, disappearing into the haze.
Prepared for this tactic, Gallade immediately unleashed a powerful Psychic to blow away the fog, then charged with both arms glowing green as it launched a dual Leaf Blade slash at the retreating Greninja.
BOOM!
The attack landed and Greninja collapsed to the ground with a dull thud, only to burst into a Substitute doll that slowly faded away.
However, Gallade who instinctively sensed danger, had no time to evade. Greninja reappeared from underground with a Dig and instantly took him down with a swift Aerial Ace.
"Return, Gallade. You did great."
Wally wore a slightly odd expression as he withdrew Gallade into its Poké Ball, silently reminding himself that in future battles, he absolutely needed to be more vigilant.
That's what made this special arena-style battle format so interesting: your opponent had already anticipated your strategy and chosen their Pokémon accordingly. It was incredibly difficult to pull off back-to-back victories.
Greninja's combat style was a textbook example of ninja warfare—built entirely around unpredictability and striking where the enemy least expects.
A head-on clash? That was a last resort.
"Drapion, to the field!"
Paul, now rotating in had already made his next selection.
"Use Hone Claws and Acupressure for speed!"
"Draaah!"
With a fierce roar, the newly released Drapion jabbed pressure points with its tail pincers while sharpening its claws to boost its stats.
"Double Team!"
Greninja calmly formed a hand sign, and its figure multiplied into dozens encircling Drapion on all sides before collectively charging in.
"Water Shuriken!"
At Calem's command, all the Greninja copies raised their arms, summoning spinning blades of water. They hurled them toward Drapion in unison.
In an instant, the battlefield was filled with flying Water Shuriken—real and illusory—indistinguishable and overwhelming, blanketing the entire area.
"Evade and use Hyper Beam!"
Thanks to the speed boost from Acupressure, Drapion darted away from its original spot—but under a barrage of countless shuriken, escape was impossible. It took damage, gritting through the pain.
But that didn't matter.
What mattered was that Drapion, wounded but still standing, unleashed dark soundwaves from its maw—Hyper Beam—that swept across the battlefield in every direction.
Every Greninja clone it touched instantly dissipated into white smoke, leaving not a single one behind.
"Now's the time—go!"
Just then, with a sharp command from Calem, the ground beneath Drapion suddenly shattered—and a flash of blue burst upward, slamming into Drapion and sending it flying.
Dig!
It's super effective!
"Haze!"
Taking advantage of Drapion being launched skyward, Greninja let out a stream of thick black mist from its mouth. The smog engulfed the field—and Greninja vanished into it.
"Pin Missile!"
But Drapion had been prepared. Even while airborne, it raised both of its pincers and launched Pin Missile without hesitation.
A volley of glowing green projectiles tore through the haze, scattering the smoke and revealing Greninja hidden within.
In an instant, Drapion's claws lit up, and every one of the launched missiles redirected midair—homing straight in on the now-exposed and startled Greninja.
There was no time to dodge. The Pin Missiles hit their mark!
When the barrage ended, Greninja lay battered and bruised on the ground, barely conscious—seemingly on the verge of losing the will to battle.
But despite the scene, Paul didn't order Drapion to go in for the finishing blow. Instead—
"Jump! Pin Missile!"
The moment the command left his mouth, the ground beneath Drapion cracked again—another Greninja burst forth from below with a surprise attack.
Unfortunately, this time Drapion was ready. With both prior warning and Paul's instruction, it reacted instantly—leaping into the air and launching Pin Missile in one smooth motion.
The moment Greninja emerged from underground, it was greeted by a flurry of green energy projectiles raining down like arrows.
(End of Chapter)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you want to access advance chapters, please visit: patreon.com / PMadz_23